DevExtreme Angular - Getting Started with DropDownButton
The DropDownButton combines the functionality of a button and a drop-down menu. You can replace the menu with a custom drop-down control.
This tutorial describes how to configure a DropDownButton that logs user clicks in the browser console (you can open the console to see the messages):
Refer to the subtopics for details on every configuration step. You can also see the full code below:
jQuery
$(function() { var actions = [ { id: 1, text: "My profile", icon: "user" }, { id: 2, text: "Messages", icon: "email" }, { id: 3, text: "Contacts", icon: "group" }, { id: 4, text: "Log out", icon: "runner" } ]; $("#myDropDownButton").dxDropDownButton({ text: "Sandra Johnson", icon: "user", items: actions, keyExpr: "id", onItemClick: function(e) { console.log(e.itemData.text + " was clicked"); }, splitButton: true, onButtonClick: function() { console.log("Main button was clicked"); } }); });
<html> <head> <!-- ... --> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://code.jquery.com/jquery-3.5.1.min.js"></script> <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://cdn3.devexpress.com/jslib/19.2.15/css/dx.common.css"> <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://cdn3.devexpress.com/jslib/19.2.15/css/dx.light.css"> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://cdn3.devexpress.com/jslib/19.2.15/js/dx.all.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="index.js"></script> </head> <body> <div id="myDropDownButton"></div> </body> </html>
Angular
<dx-drop-down-button text="Sandra Johnson" icon="user" [items]="actions" keyExpr="id" (onItemClick)="logAction($event)" [splitButton]="true" (onButtonClick)="logButtonClick()"> </dx-drop-down-button>
import { Component } from '@angular/core'; @Component({ selector: 'app-root', templateUrl: './app.component.html', styleUrls: ['./app.component.css'] }) export class AppComponent { actions: Array<{id: Number, text: String, icon: String}> = [ { id: 1, text: "My profile", icon: "user" }, { id: 2, text: "Messages", icon: "email" }, { id: 3, text: "Contacts", icon: "group" }, { id: 4, text: "Log out", icon: "runner" } ]; logAction(e) { console.log(e.itemData.text + " was clicked"); } logButtonClick() { console.log("Main button was clicked"); } }
import { BrowserModule } from '@angular/platform-browser'; import { NgModule } from '@angular/core'; import { AppComponent } from './app.component'; import { DxDropDownButtonModule } from 'devextreme-angular'; @NgModule({ declarations: [ AppComponent ], imports: [ BrowserModule, DxDropDownButtonModule ], providers: [ ], bootstrap: [AppComponent] }) export class AppModule { }
Vue
<template> <DxDropDownButton text="Sandra Johnson" icon="user" :items="actions" key-expr="id" @item-click="logAction" :split-button="true" @button-click="logButtonClick" /> </template> <script> import 'devextreme/dist/css/dx.common.css'; import 'devextreme/dist/css/dx.light.css'; import DxDropDownButton from 'devextreme-vue/drop-down-button'; const actions = [ { id: 1, text: "My profile", icon: "user" }, { id: 2, text: "Messages", icon: "email" }, { id: 3, text: "Contacts", icon: "group" }, { id: 4, text: "Log out", icon: "runner" } ]; export default { components: { DxDropDownButton }, data() { return { actions } }, methods: { logAction(e) { console.log(e.itemData.text + " was clicked"); }, logButtonClick() { console.log("Main button was clicked"); } } } </script>
React
import React from 'react'; import 'devextreme/dist/css/dx.common.css'; import 'devextreme/dist/css/dx.light.css'; import DropDownButton from 'devextreme-react/drop-down-button'; const actions = [ { id: 1, text: "My profile", icon: "user" }, { id: 2, text: "Messages", icon: "email" }, { id: 3, text: "Contacts", icon: "group" }, { id: 4, text: "Log out", icon: "runner" } ]; class App extends React.Component { logAction(e) { console.log(e.itemData.text + " was clicked"); } logButtonClick() { console.log("Main button was clicked"); } render() { return ( <DropDownButton text="Sandra Johnson" icon="user" items={actions} keyExpr="id" onItemClick={this.logAction} splitButton={true} onButtonClick={this.logButtonClick} /> ); } } export default App;
Create a DropDownButton
You can use the following code to create a DropDownButton:
jQuery
<html> <head> <!-- ... --> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://code.jquery.com/jquery-3.5.1.min.js"></script> <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://cdn3.devexpress.com/jslib/19.2.15/css/dx.common.css"> <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://cdn3.devexpress.com/jslib/19.2.15/css/dx.light.css"> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://cdn3.devexpress.com/jslib/19.2.15/js/dx.all.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="index.js"></script> </head> <body> <div id="myDropDownButton"></div> </body> </html>
$(function() { $("#myDropDownButton").dxDropDownButton({ // Configuration goes here }); });
Angular
<dx-drop-down-button <!-- Configuration goes here --> > </dx-drop-down-button>
import { Component } from '@angular/core'; @Component({ selector: 'app-root', templateUrl: './app.component.html', styleUrls: ['./app.component.css'] }) export class AppComponent { }
import { BrowserModule } from '@angular/platform-browser'; import { NgModule } from '@angular/core'; import { AppComponent } from './app.component'; import { DxDropDownButtonModule } from 'devextreme-angular'; @NgModule({ declarations: [ AppComponent ], imports: [ BrowserModule, DxDropDownButtonModule ], providers: [ ], bootstrap: [AppComponent] }) export class AppModule { }
Vue
<template> <DxDropDownButton <!-- Configuration goes here --> /> </template> <script> import 'devextreme/dist/css/dx.common.css'; import 'devextreme/dist/css/dx.light.css'; import DxDropDownButton from 'devextreme-vue/drop-down-button'; export default { components: { DxDropDownButton } } </script>
React
import React from 'react'; import 'devextreme/dist/css/dx.common.css'; import 'devextreme/dist/css/dx.light.css'; import DropDownButton from 'devextreme-react/drop-down-button'; class App extends React.Component { render() { return ( <DropDownButton // Configuration goes here /> ); } } export default App;
Configure the Button
Specify the button's text and/or icon:
jQuery
$(function() { $("#myDropDownButton").dxDropDownButton({ text: "Sandra Johnson", icon: "user" }); });
Angular
<dx-drop-down-button text="Sandra Johnson" icon="user"> </dx-drop-down-button>
Vue
<template> <DxDropDownButton text="Sandra Johnson" icon="user" /> </template> <script> // ... </script>
React
// ... class App extends React.Component { render() { return ( <DropDownButton text="Sandra Johnson" icon="user" /> ); } }
Run the code and you should see a button that displays the specified text and icon. Click this button to open a drop-down menu that shows "No data to display." In the next step, we populate the menu.
Populate the Drop-Down Menu
To populate the drop-down menu, assign an array to the items option. Objects in the array should provide text, icons, and other menu item data. The data fields that match those listed in the items section are automatically recognized (text
and icon
in the code below). If you store item text in a field with a different name, use the displayExpr option to map the field.
In addition, specify the data field that provides keys used to distinguish between menu items. You can use the keyExpr option to do it.
jQuery
$(function() { var actions = [ { id: 1, text: "My profile", icon: "user" }, { id: 2, text: "Messages", icon: "email" }, { id: 3, text: "Contacts", icon: "group" }, { id: 4, text: "Log out", icon: "runner" } ]; $("#myDropDownButton").dxDropDownButton({ // ... items: actions, keyExpr: "id" // displayExpr: "text" }); });
Angular
<dx-drop-down-button ... [items]="actions" keyExpr="id"> <!-- displayExpr="text" --> </dx-drop-down-button>
// ... export class AppComponent { actions: Array<{id: Number, text: String, icon: String}> = [ { id: 1, text: "My profile", icon: "user" }, { id: 2, text: "Messages", icon: "email" }, { id: 3, text: "Contacts", icon: "group" }, { id: 4, text: "Log out", icon: "runner" } ]; }
Vue
<template> <DxDropDownButton ... :items="actions" key-expr="id" <!-- display-expr="text" --> /> </template> <script> // ... const actions = [ { id: 1, text: "My profile", icon: "user" }, { id: 2, text: "Messages", icon: "email" }, { id: 3, text: "Contacts", icon: "group" }, { id: 4, text: "Log out", icon: "runner" } ]; export default { // ... data() { return { actions } } } </script>
React
// ... const actions = [ { id: 1, text: "My profile", icon: "user" }, { id: 2, text: "Messages", icon: "email" }, { id: 3, text: "Contacts", icon: "group" }, { id: 4, text: "Log out", icon: "runner" } ]; class App extends React.Component { render() { return ( <DropDownButton ... items={actions} keyExpr="id" // displayExpr="text" /> ); } }
If you run the code and click the button, you should see a list of three actions, but nothing happens when you click any of them. We fix this in the next step.
Handle the Menu Item Click Event
Assign a function to the onItemClick option. In this tutorial, the function logs the selected action's name in the browser's console:
jQuery
$(function() { $("#myDropDownButton").dxDropDownButton({ // ... onItemClick: function(e) { console.log(e.itemData.text + " was clicked"); } }); });
Angular
<dx-drop-down-button ... (onItemClick)="logAction($event)"> </dx-drop-down-button>
// ... export class AppComponent { // ... logAction(e) { console.log(e.itemData.text + " was clicked"); } }
Vue
<template> <DxDropDownButton ... @item-click="logAction" /> </template> <script> // ... export default { // ... methods: { logAction(e) { console.log(e.itemData.text + " was clicked"); } } } </script>
React
// ... class App extends React.Component { logAction(e) { console.log(e.itemData.text + " was clicked"); } render() { return ( <DropDownButton ... onItemClick={this.logAction} /> ); } } export default App;
Run the code, open the browser's console, click the button, and select an action from the drop-down menu. You should see messages like the following:
My profile was clicked Messages was clicked Contacts was clicked
Split the Button
The button can execute a custom action instead of opening the drop-down menu. To enable this behavior, split the button into two sections. Set the splitButton option to true and assign a function to the onButtonClick option:
jQuery
$(function() { $("#myDropDownButton").dxDropDownButton({ // ... splitButton: true, onButtonClick: function() { console.log("Main button was clicked"); } }); });
Angular
<dx-drop-down-button ... [splitButton]="true" (onButtonClick)="logButtonClick()"> </dx-drop-down-button>
// ... export class AppComponent { // ... logButtonClick() { console.log("Main button was clicked"); } }
Vue
<template> <DxDropDownButton ... :split-button="true" @button-click="logButtonClick" /> </template> <script> // ... export default { // ... methods: { // ... logButtonClick() { console.log("Main button was clicked"); } } } </script>
React
// ... class App extends React.Component { // ... logButtonClick() { console.log("Main button was clicked"); } render() { return ( <DropDownButton ... splitButton={true} onButtonClick={this.logButtonClick} /> ); } } export default App;
If you run the code, you should see a button divided in two sections. A click on the main section logs "Main button was clicked" into the browser's console. A click on the secondary section opens the drop-down menu.
Enable the Stateful Mode
If the DropDownButton should remember the selected drop-down menu item, switch it to the stateful mode. Set the useSelectMode option to true and make the following replacements in your code:
Use onSelectionChanged instead of onItemClick.
You should track selection changes instead of handling item clicks.
Use the selectedItemKey to specify the initially selected item.
In stateful mode, the main button area displays the text and icon from the selected item. The selectedItemKey allows you to get or set the current selection. Items are identified using keys from the data field that you assigned to the keyExpr option (see the Populate the Drop-Down Menu step).
For more information on the stateful mode, refer to the useSelectMode description.
jQuery
$(function() { $("#myDropDownButton").dxDropDownButton({ // ... // text: "Sandra Johnson", // icon: "user" // onItemClick: function(e) { // console.log(e.itemData.text + " was clicked"); // }, useSelectMode: true, selectedItemKey: 1, onSelectionChanged: function(e) { console.log(e.item.text + " was selected; " + e.previousItem.text + " was deselected"); } }); });
Angular
<dx-drop-down-button ... <!-- text="Sandra Johnson" --> <!-- icon="user" --> <!-- (onItemClick)="logAction($event)" --> [useSelectMode]="true" [selectedItemKey]="1" (onSelectionChanged)="logSelectionChanged($event)"> </dx-drop-down-button>
// ... export class AppComponent { // ... // logAction(e) { // console.log(e.itemData.text + " was clicked"); // } logSelectionChanged(e) { console.log(e.item.text + " was selected; " + e.previousItem.text + " was deselected"); } }
Vue
<template> <DxDropDownButton <!-- text="Sandra Johnson" --> <!-- icon="user" --> <!-- @item-click="logAction" --> :use-select-mode="true" :selected-item-key="1" @selection-changed="logSelectionChanged" /> </template> <script> // ... export default { // ... methods: { // ... // logAction(e) { // console.log(e.itemData.text + " was clicked"); // } logSelectionChanged(e) { console.log(e.item.text + " was selected; " + e.previousItem.text + " was deselected"); } } } </script>
React
// ... class App extends React.Component { // ... // logAction(e) { // console.log(e.itemData.text + " was clicked"); // } logSelectionChanged(e) { console.log(e.item.text + " was selected; " + e.previousItem.text + " was deselected"); } render() { return ( <DropDownButton // text="Sandra Johnson" // icon="user" // onItemClick={this.logAction} useSelectMode={true} selectedItemKey={1} onSelectionChanged={this.logSelectionChanged} /> ); } } export default App;
Run the code, open the drop-down menu, and select an item. You should see that the button's text and icon are changed according to the item you selected. In addition, the browser's console should contain messages like the following:
My profile was selected; Log out was deselected Contacts was selected; My profile was deselected
You have configured basic DropDownButton features. For more information about this widget, explore the following resources:
If you have technical questions, please create a support ticket in the DevExpress Support Center.